The city's northwest side saw the median home price plummet to $94,000 in 2009, down from $385,000 at the peak. Foreclosures dotted the streets. Families fled, leaving trash and old furniture behind.

"There were a lot of empty houses. It was a big mess," said real estate broker Ruben Magdaleno of Re/Max VIP.

These days, the working-class community has a new identity: comeback kid.

Northwest Compton has posted the most dramatic price jump of any area in Southern California. The median home price in the 90222 ZIP Code rose 96.8% from the second quarter of 2009 to $185,000 at the end of last year.

•The San Gorgonio Pass city of Banning in Riverside County (92220), up 68.4% to $141,000.

•Escondido's central neighborhood in northern San Diego County (92025), up 67.4% to $370,000.

Overall, the Southern California median price for single-family resale homes has risen 34.5% since bottoming out at the beginning of 2009. The median price is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half for less; it is influenced by the type of homes sold.

The median peaked at $550,000 during the second quarter of 2007 before crashing to $249,000 during the first quarter of 2009, according to DataQuick. At the end of last year, home buyers shelled out a median of $335,000 for a resale home.

"For the typical person who bought at the peak, they are still a long way away," said Richard Green, director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate.

So why the big gains in markets as dissimilar as Compton and Newport Coast? In general, those areas got hit harder during the meltdown and so now are particularly attractive to bargain hunters.

Places such as Cardiff by the Sea, Newport Coast and Westlake Village are highly coveted areas with good schools that are always in demand, especially after a rare drop in prices.

Meanwhile, investors are scooping up run-down properties in Compton and San Bernardino to renovate for sale or rent. A flood of foreclosures and short sales in those areas pushed prices to levels so low that recent price gains look huge in percentage terms.

"It became so toxic that [prices] dropped to almost nothing," Green said. "Investors saw great opportunity and started coming into the market at really remarkable bottoms."

Investor Brian Coomans has done about 35 deals in Compton since the crash, fixing up the properties to rent or sell. In particular, he's fond of a western portion of the 90222 ZIP Code, with its collection of generally well-maintained single-family homes that saw values plummet.

"It was just a home run," he said.

Although rising values are good news for hard-hit communities, some would-be home buyers are having a tough time breaking into the market.

On a recent Saturday, Juan and Lupe Maciel toured a four-bedroom home on West Piru Street in Compton. They already have been outbid on four houses in the city. The nearly $280,000 list price for the Piru Street house was too much, given the repairs needed, they said. If they keep striking out, they may simply continue to rent.

"It's pretty frustrating," Lupe Maciel said.

More than 100 miles to the south, sellers in a collection of neighborhoods east of downtown San Diego are getting much higher prices for their properties.

San Diego real estate agent Ed Landsberg said investors have snapped up foreclosures and other distressed properties in the hardest-hit neighborhoods in the 92102 ZIP Code.

"The low-end stuff — all the investors have gobbled up," he said.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood of South Park, which fared better during the downturn, has become a magnet for its collection of Craftsman bungalows, restaurants and proximity to downtown, he said. Houses for sale there are extremely hard to come by.

"South Park is a real buzz word in San Diego," said Landsberg, who specializes in the neighborhood.